Pena, who signed in the offseason to replace Gerald Laird as the backup catcher for the Detroit Tigers, took an interesting path to the major leagues from his native Cuba. But he doesn't regret one move he has made.

Pena was a teenager when he traveled to Venezuela to play baseball with the Cuban national team. He had wrestled with the thought of defecting from Cuba for three months, but never even told his parents of his plans.

"It was very hard emotionally," Pena said. "If you get your emotions
involved, you're not going to do it. You have to be a little bit
cold-hearted to do it."

Pena had put together a plan with a friend and they executed it early one morning in Venezuela.

"We were coming down to have breakfast and I asked the head security guy
for the Cuban team if I could go to the bathroom," he said. "I kind of knew that in
the bathroom they had a window. I took off. I climbed through the window
and one of my friends was there with a car."

The two of them sped off in a red Toyota Corolla for a five-hour drive to Chichiriviche, located on the shores of the Carribbean Sea. Pena holed up in a house there for five months to avoid being found and deported back to Cuba.

"Just a lot of TV, a lot of PlayStation, a lot of ice cream," he said. "All the ice cream I never tried in Cuba. It was unbelievable."

He eventually made his way to Costa Rica, where he spent another five months working out before being signed by the Atlanta Braves. At that point, he traveled to Miami and then to the Orlando area, where the Braves play and where Pena still lives.

"Freedom," Pena said, recalling the first feeling when he set foot in the United States for the first time. "It was like a big weight coming off. It was a great feeling.
That's why when I became an American citizen five years ago, I felt like
it was the highlight of my life."

With his help, Pena's parents and four brothers eventually came to the United States and became U.S. citizens. He said he still has several relatives in Cuba, including a niece and a cousin who he has never met.

Pena is a .248 career hitter who played a season-high 72 games in 2011 and 68 last season. He played sparingly in four seasons with the Braves before carrying a heavier load as a backup with the Royals the past four seasons.

He is thrilled to be with a contender for his ninth season in the majors.

"You see all these All-Stars and it's like a dream team," Pena said of the Tigers. "Actually, it's
not like a dream team. It is a dream team. For me to be able to be part
of this, it's unbelievable.

"I came from Cuba with no expectations
whatsoever. For me to be at the level that I'm at, I feel very good. I'm
very proud and I'm so thankful to America. America gave me everything.
It gave my family, it gave myself a career, a future. I'm so proud to be
here."

Baseball is big for Pena. But based on where he is now compared to when he was in Cuba, it isn't the biggest thing.

"Baseball is great, don't get me wrong," Pena said. "This is what I do. But America
has been bigger than baseball to me and my family. That's why I never
take anything for granted. I enjoy being here so much."